Heart For A Gun
by love escalation
Summary: I can't give you a real summary yet, but if you find the title interesting, please read! John/Cameron.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, well, this is my first TSSC fiction. It's been a while since I've seen the movies, but I've seen the third one pretty recently over and over. I'm sure I've made the characters a little out of character, but hopefully not too much. I also hope I got the character's names right and who they are. ; Sometimes the captions on my television don't work too well. I'm a little nervous, as you see. :b

Sometimes I'll be using scenes straight from the show in my story, but I'll end up changing around the dialogue and stuff so it isn't so exact.

Oh yes, the disclaimer: I don't own anything from TSCC. 'Nuff said.

**CHAPTER ONE**

The van harshly swerved as Cameron Baum tossed around and fought with the T-888. Sarah Connor had trouble with the steering wheel and keeping the vehicle straight. Cameron and the T-888 were just too strong. "Can you try a little harder to keep him still?" Sarah shouted at Cameron. "We're about to run off the road!"

Sarah stopped the van once she saw the jeep John was driving in front of her. Sarah and Derek Reese jumped out of the automobile and ran to John, who had a worried look on his face.

"Where's Cameron?" John questioned, getting ready to run forward, but his mother stopped him.

"There's no time to worry about her, John. We have to go." Sarah tried to push him back and he struggled against her.

"Let her go." Derek said, helping Sarah keep him away.

The back doors on the van busted open and Cameron was thrown out, landing on the hard ground. She heard John scream her name, but she had no time to react to him. The T-888 stepped in front of Cameron and kicked her in the stomach. He then fell on top of her and began to punch her.

Sarah grabbed a gun from the jeep and shot the T-888 in the back several times. The T-888 moved away from Cameron after stealing her gun and pointed to the direction of John, Derek, and Sarah. John was scared. Derek and Sarah pushed John out of the way, making him hide, but he was not the target this time. Derek Reese was.

Cameron snatched a pole and attacked T-888 in the back of the knees. The trigger was pulled and the bullet hit Derek in the side. Cameron managed to keep the machine foe in place, twisting the metal pole around his neck. "Give me the toolbox!" she shouted. John grabbed the toolbox and ran over to her. "Switchblade." John handed it to her. "Pliers." He continued to do the same. With the pliers, Cameron pulled something out of the machine's head. It looked to be some sort of chip. Cameron stared at it for a good few minutes.

- -

The front door was slammed open as John, Cameron, and Sarah rushed into the house. John and Sarah were holding a bleeding Derek.

Cameron examined Derek's bullet wound for a few minutes. "I can't fix it." She said in a monotone voice.

"You took a bullet out of me. You can take one out of him!" Sarah's voice began to break.

"Get that fucking piece of metal away from me, damn it!" Derek screamed, trying to get her away. It only increased his pain.

Cameron shook her head. "There's internal damage. He needs medical attention or he dies."

Sarah ran to her bedroom and pulled something out from under her bed. John followed.

"A stun gun. Are you crazy?"

"We have to save him," his mother looked him in the eye. "There's an ER about a mile away." She pointed towards the window.

"And when you get caught, what happens?"

Sarah shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We have to save him!"

"You don't even know who he is!" John screamed.

"He's your uncle!"

-

John sat by his desk in his room trying to concentrate on his math homework. Cameron sat on his bed and watched him. It had been an hour since John brought Charley over to give Derek medical care. It had been quiet since. The two teenagers had yet to hear of Derek's condition.

"Are you sure bringing him over was a good idea?" Cameron asked.

John shrugged. "Charley seems to know what to do. It seemed right at the time. He was the only one I could think of."

"It's a big risk, especially with your mom here. Has it not been very long since they have seen each other?"

He nodded. "I know, but maybe it's about time they had a conversation again," he looked at Cameron. "You sure you don't want to do my homework?" he smiled.

Shrugging her shoulders, she said, "Okay."

"I didn't want to see anyone else die, family included." John whispered a few minutes later. It was quiet and awkward while he watched Cameron do his homework. The only sound was the tapping number two pencil and it was starting to drive him insane.

"You're thinking about the cheerleader who jumped. Jordan."

He nodded. "I'm sick of having people die around me. It makes me feel like I can't do anything. But when I know I can, nobody's letting me. Everyone's keeping me from being who I'm apparently supposed to be." He gave Cameron a small glare.

"It's for your own good." Cameron continued to scribble on the paper.

"Of course it is," he sighed. "I just don't like sitting on my ass all day and not being able to do a damn thing."

"You'll be able to do lots of things in the future. Katharine knows." Cameron nodded.

"Katharine?" John questioned.

"Just someone."

"Someone who?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

"It's important for you not to know so much about the future or else you might try to change it."

John sighed in defeat. "Fine."

-

Friday could not have come at a better time. For the first time in a long time, John received a good night's sleep. He did not have one nightmare about robots, his own death, Skynet, or war. If he even had a dream, he didn't remember it. He didn't analyze it. He was just happy knowing he got a good sleep. He wouldn't end up going to school freaked out or looking like a zombie, not that he cared about his looks or anything.

John forced himself out of bed and stretched before he walked to the kitchen. When he stepped in, he saw Cameron in an oversized t-shirt and boxers. He had never seen her in that look before. Cameron was drinking a cup of coffee. She looked like a normal person. "I've never seen you in that get-up. New clothes?"

Cameron put the cup down and simply nodded. "Yes. Sarah took me to a clothing shop. She told me clothes looked better."

He chuckled. "I'm sure she's said that a few times every morning."

Cameron nodded. "I wrote a note last night for that girl."

"You did?"

"Yes. I thought it would be nice."

John nodded. "Yeah, that is nice. I'm sure she would have liked that a lot, Cameron."

"John, will she know that these people wrote her notes?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"How?" she tilted her head in confusion.

"Heaven."

"What is heaven, John?"

"It's a place good people go to when they die." John ran his fingers through his hair as he searched the fridge for something to eat.

"But suicide is bad."

He turned around to face her, holding a sandwich from last night. "That's true, but she was scared. She was probably a good person."

"People who do bad things are bad too."

John raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Killing is bad. You kill."

Cameron stared at him. "But I kill to save you so you can save the future. That's good."

Sarah Connor walked into the kitchen full of smiles. "Good morning. Sleep well?"

John nodded. "I did for once."

"I don't sleep." Cameron said.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "If only I had a nickel every time I heard that one."

Cameron stood on her feet. "I can go get you one."

John swallowed and chuckled. "It's only a figure of speech. You don't actually have to get one," he turned to his mother. "Where's Charley and…"

"They're in the other room sleeping. I allowed them to stay the night here."

"What are we going to do about the Turk?" Cameron spoke out of turn.

"It's only eight-thirty and you mention it."

She nodded. "It's an important subject."

Sarah turned to John again, ignoring the subject. "Hurry up with your breakfast and get ready or you and Tin Miss here will be late for school."

"Don't worry, Mom. I wouldn't want to miss the first fifteen minutes of school for the world." John said sarcastically, food still in his mouth.

-

John and Cameron arrived to school and they saw that Jordan's memorial in the hallway was bigger than the last time they looked at it twenty-four hours ago. There were more colourful balloons, flowers, notes, and cards. There were even lots of pictures of herself and Jordan with friends. Cameron stood in front of it with a white envelope in the palm of her hand.

John looked down at her. "Are you going to add your letter to the others?"

Cameron stared ahead. "I don't know. People will think my letter is stupid."

"Nobody will read it. It's a private thing."

She looked at him and back to the memorial. Slowly, she walked towards the memorial and put her letter with the rest of the ones in the pile. She could see Mr. Harris, the counselor, from the corner of her eye. She also saw Cheri coming towards John's direction.

John nodded towards her. "Hey. Did you write a note yet?"

Cheri shrugged. "Not really. I haven't been able to figure out what to write. I see your sister's written one."

"I haven't been able to figure out what to write either, and yeah, Cameron wrote something. She won't let me see it."

Cheri chuckled. "Some things are just personal. It's a girl thing."

_I wonder if Cameron even knows what 'girl things' are. _John thought, nodding just to agree with her.

Cameron walked up behind John and tapped him on the shoulder. "The bell's ringing. We should get to class."

- -

**Author's Note**: I don't know if anyone's noticed, but can you guess where the title came from? If nobody knows, I'll tell you in the next chapter if anyone wants me to continue. :) I hope I wasn't too bad. ;


	2. Chapter 2

I'm glad I received some nice feedback on the very first chapter. I'm even more nervous about this chapter than the first! The characters are a little more out of character than usual, I think. My mind is in different places. I've been asked why I made a T3 reference in the first chapter because T3 has been ignored in the TV series. Well, there you go. That's the reason I've mentioned T3. They're not going to mention anything T3 related in the TV series, so why not just add it into a fiction story made by a fan? I'm adding a little T2 into this chapter right now.

I had readers guess where the title came from if they wanted to. The title is a lyric of **Thomas Dekker**'s (John Connor) song, **The Future**.

_I've traded my heart for a gun  
'Cause I've been told I'm the only one   
To put an end to all that I've ever known  
And now the time has come  
I know the past is gone  
And I'm gonna be...a machine_

The song is obviously Terminator related, so the song has been stuck in my head since I first listened to it, and I thought that specific lyric, or part of it, would be a good title. If you search "Thomas Dekker Music MySpace" on Google, you'll find his MySpace and you can listen to the song.

**CHAPTER TWO**

_Thank you for being my new friend._

_Cameron_

"That was your letter?" John opened his locker and exchanged his chemistry book for his geometry book.

Cameron nodded. "Yes. Was it bad?"

He shook his head. "No, it was nice. You only knew her for, what, two minutes? You can't write a speech with that."

"Thank you."

He chuckled. "Why are you thanking me?"

"You told me my letter wasn't bad." Cameron walked past him and headed for geometry class.

-

Auto shop was the one class John Connor enjoyed the most. There was no Cameron watching his every move and breathing over his shoulder. There was no mother around to constantly annoy him. He was able to keep to himself in class most of the time. Sometimes he would help Morris if he asked. The two of them had gotten closer since they met a few days ago, but John was careful to not let them get too close.

"Hey, John, you want to hang out after school?" Morris asked while working on the carburetor.

"Sorry, I can't."

Morris rolled his eyes. "Come on, man. You keep saying that. Why can't you?"

John barely looked at him and kept his focus on the car. "My mom needs me to help around the house. We still have boxes lying around that we haven't gotten to."

"Well, what about Cameron? Does she have to help too?"

John shrugged. "She's usually busy studying. That's why she's so smart." He chuckled.

Morris thought for a moment. "I could always use some tutoring for Chemistry."

Raising an eyebrow, John chuckled. "Studying is the last thing on your mind."

"Yeah, so?"

"Cameron's not gonna go for you, man."

Morris scoffed. "And how do you know that?"

John cleaned his hands with a rag. "I know because she doesn't date anyone. The last time a guy asked her on a date, she wanted to file a restraining order against him. And we were ten when this happened. Remember what I said a few days ago? I'm just looking for ya."

"Yeah, fine." Morris gave him a disappointed look.

_No hard feelings, man. _John thought. _It might be for your own good that you don't get close to her. And me. _

-

Instead of taking the school bus, John decided it would be nicer for Cameron and him to walk home. It would have been stuffier on the bus than outside.

"This is a long walk, "Cameron said, looking at the sky. "We get home faster on the bus. Sarah must be worried."

"I just wanted to be surrounded by quiet and fresh air instead of loud, stuffy kids. They'll end up hurting someone one day if they keep throwing that damned football around."

"It isn't allowed." She looked at him.

John shrugged. "They won't listen to anybody."

"You could make them listen one day."

He gave Cameron an uncomfortable look. "Let's not talk about the future for a while, okay? Our conversation just becomes a pain in the ass whenever you bring it up."

John and Cameron arrived at the house about fifteen minutes later. They saw Sarah sitting at the kitchen table and she didn't even look at them when they arrived. She seemed as if she didn't notice they were there at all. Her eyes were focused on a small object. The same object that was pulled out of a certain T-888 just a few days ago. The same object Cameron was worried about.

"Did you ever figure out what that thing was?" John sat in a chair and placed his backpack beside the leg of it.

Sarah glanced at him then turned back to the chip. "It's something that keeps the machine working."

"It has to be something bigger than that if it was freaking Cameron out a few days ago. She kept staring at it when she pulled it out of the T-888. I was there to see it."

"We were all there to see it, John." Sarah turned to Cameron. "Do you know what it is?"

Cameron gave her a blank stare. "No."

"How can you not know what it is? He's a machine just like you."

"It's like you said. It's something that keeps the machine working. I have homework." Cameron took her messenger bag and walked upstairs.

John turned to his mom. "She knows more, doesn't she?"

Sarah nodded. "Of course she does. Tin Miss knows everything about these things, or she should. We just have to get her to talk. If she's not going to tell us what it is, it must be bad and she's trying to save us when only, she's making things worse. Do you still believe she's completely on our side?"

John thought for a couple of minutes.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

Sarah snatched a shotgun and ran upstairs. She heard the scream from Derek's room. Kicking the door open, she ran in the room and held the gun in the air. She saw Cameron standing beside Derek's bed. "What are you doing?"

John caught up to Sarah and his eyes went wide. "Mom, what the hell are you doing?"

"He was making painful sounds. He hasn't been taking his medication." Cameron held up a bottle of Aleve.

"I'm fine. I'll be even better knowing that this hunk of metal will be out of my room soon!"

"Derek, shut up. You're supposed to be resting and shouting is not helping." Sarah turned to Cameron. "You, Tin Miss, get out of the room. I don't want to deal with anymore trouble for at least a week right now. John, you go into your room or the kitchen and do your homework. You will not have Cameron do it for you, got it?"

"Just put the gun down and away. You might scare off the neighbours." John muttered, turning on his heel and went off to the kitchen.

-

"Have you noticed that my mom's been more…snappy since we brought Derek here?" John looked at Cameron, who was having her nose stuck in a textbook. "She's been so jumpy and she carries a gun everywhere now. It's insane."

"Your mom is human. She worries." Cameron looked at him.

"I've never seen her so freaked out since she saw Uncle Bob."

Cameron tilted her head. "Uncle Bob? Who is that?"

John almost smiled a little from the past memory. "He was a Terminator, kind of like you. He helped save me and my mom a few years ago when I was a kid. We were hoping to stop Judgment Day. He's gone now. He was terminated after we terminated a T-1000. After all this happened, I've been hoping every day we won't have to go into another huge battle like we did before."

Cameron closed her textbook. "John, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"We might get into some trouble in the next few days."

**Author's Note**: I really have no idea what Cameron would write in a letter to Jordan. Since there was no long conversation, I don't think there would be very much written. I thought a plain simple sentence would suffice.

There will be a new episode tomorrow night! Don't forget to watch it!


	3. Chapter 3

I'm really not sure what to say at this point of time…oh, yeah. THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!

**CHAPTER THREE**

"Cameron, what are you talking about? Trouble?"

Cameron nodded. "Trouble. Conflict. Problems."

John looked at her strangely. "You don't sleep." He sighed as she shook her head. "Okay, so basically, we're screwed, right?"

"Yes." Cameron replied in a flat tone.

"We have to tell my mom."

John started to raise himself from the chair, but Cameron pushed him back down. "No."

"I have to. You are not going to do the same thing you did with Jordan." He struggled against her.

"No." Cameron repeated.

"I'm telling you to let me go!" John shouted and glared at her.

"Freak."

Sarah Connor walked into the kitchen for a brief moment, waving at them to shut up.

John lowered his voice when his mother walked back to Derek. "Why won't you let me tell her?"

"You're going to be a leader in the future, John. Sarah Connor can't always be there to worry."

John growled under his breath. "I told you I'm sick and tired of this future talk. I don't care about what happens in the future right now. I only care about myself and my mother at the moment. I'm sorry if that ruins your little plan, but it's the way it's going to be for a while."

"Derek Reese might die."

"…"

"John? Sarah?"

John turned his head and saw Charley Dixon walking in through the kitchen door. He was glad someone walked in to break up the conversation. "Charley."

Charley waved to Cameron and him. "How's Derek doing?"

"He's still in bad shape, I guess. He screamed a few minutes ago when Cameron came into the room. He might have passed out again."

Charley nodded. "That's why your mother called me, actually."

"_John! Charley!" Sarah ran into the kitchen. "Charley, he needs your help. He's coughing up a lot of blood."_

_Charley ran into the room and John followed. Sarah moved Derek on his side as blood was spewing out onto the floor. Charley pulled out his kit and placed it on the nightstand beside him. "I'm going to have to drain his lung. He'll lose a lot of blood and he'll need a transfusion. I'll figure out his blood type when I get the blood._

-

_Charley arrived back into the kitchen moments later to wash his hands. __He turned his head to look at Sarah and John, both of them worried and faces turning pale. "Derek definitely needs a transfusion. He's AB-negative. It's almost a lost cause."_

_John stood up. "Test me."_

_Charley sighed. "John, I…" _

"_Please…just test me. I'm the only chance we have left."_

"_We should let him die." Cameron interrupted._

"_Nobody's dying." Sarah snapped. "John, this isn't like donating to the Red Cross."_

_John leaned against the wall. "Oh, so I don't get a sticker and cookie? Bullshit." _

_Sarah stopped herself from slapping him across the face. "This is serious, John. He could and so can you. Frankly, I can't afford to lose you more than I can afford to lose Derek. If you are going to do this, you need to make sure you really want to do this. It's a huge risk, John."_

"_I know it is, but Derek's family. I have to do this. I have to try. I'm not going to just sit back and do absolutely nothing. I'm tired of it."_

_Charley glanced at John then Sarah. He gave a look of defeat. "The kid wants to do it, Sarah." _

_Sarah gave Charley a long stern look. She sighed, "Fine. If anything happens, I won't forgive myself for letting you do this." _

-

After inspecting Derek, Charley put all his utensils in his medical kit. Derek lay still on the bed, still asleep. He managed to stay that way after taking the pain killers he was forced to take. Sarah stayed by his side since. She never left the room unless she rushed to get something. She wasn't going to leave him alone in the room while a terminator was roaming around the rooms.

"Derek will be fine. Just continue to make sure he doesn't do any singing or running around any time soon. And definitely no guns fights. That's the number one thing. He doesn't have the ability to handle another bullet, I'm afraid. His body wouldn't be able to take it." Charley said, zipping up his medical kit and beginning to walk out of the room.

Sarah followed and crossed her arms. There was a bit of a chill coming through the glass windows and into the house. "Thanks, Charley. You've been a really great help and I really appreciate it."

Charley smiled. "It's no problem, really. I'll always be here to help if you need anything."

"I won't." she slightly smirked.

"You know what I mean."

Sarah nodded. "Of course."

-

"_Okay, so, Skynet…robots…future…endoskeletons." Charley looked at Cameron. "And you're a…"_

_Cameron stared at him. "Yes, I am a…"_

_Sarah looked at him. "Do you need a-" _

"_A minute."_

_  
Sarah shook her head. "I was going to say a drink."_

_Charley nodded. "That would probably be good too. This is all so hard to follow. That thing on the table isn't helping so much either."_

"_Cameron, can you put that away, please? I want to avoid any other substances coming out from other bodies for now." _

"_Yes." Cameron zipped up the body bag, carried the broken robot, and went off into the garage._

-

A few hours later, Derek Reese was still asleep. He had not woken up again since his crazy reaction earlier in the day. Cameron had not step foot into his room. She had shifted back and forth through her room and John's room. John was trying to do his homework, but it was hard when there was a pretty girl (well, terminator) constantly walking around and looking over his shoulder.

John tossed his pencil upon the desk. "It's very hard to do homework when you keep staring at the back of my head like you're trying to burn a hole into it."

"If you can't do it, I can do it."

He sighed. "You know, I would, but I have to know this stuff when there's a test near. If you do it all the time, I'm not going to know anything."

"I can tutor you." She looked at him.

John chuckled. "No offense, but I would rather have my annoying teachers nag me about chemistry than you. It's already complicated enough trying to understand you and your language right now."

Cameron's facial expression almost turned into a real pout. "I can speak to your language level."

"Don't you have a burning terminator job to do?"

"I've finished it. Sarah sent me to my room." She sat down on the bed.

John turned around in his chair. "You listen to music, right?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. I remember you wanting me to buy you some of those Chinese and Japanese CDs. I'm surprised you listen to music. Why don't you listen to one of those?"

"I guess I could." Cameron looked towards the doorway.

John gave Cameron a small, soft smile and nodded. "And if you're a good girl and you stay in your room, I'll play with you later."

Cameron gave him a confused look as she tilted her head. "What?"

John laughed. "Don't worry about it. We'll do something in about an hour, okay?"

Cameron shrugged. "Okay."

-

"_You have to swear to me." Sarah said, standing her ground._

_Cameron stared at her. "I swear."_

_Sarah nodded. "So do I." _

-

Cameron shut the door as she stepped into her room. Taking her CD case from her bookshelf, she pulled the zipper until the case was fully opened. She retrieved a Rainie Yang CD and placed it into the stereo. She sat down on her bed and pulled out one of the two missing T-888 components out of her pocket and examined it in her hand. Sarah Connor did not know she still kept the part. She thought she had burned it with the rest of it, besides the left arm.

Cameron continued to fondle with it. She knew she wasn't supposed to have it in the house, but she continued to keep it. "I'll have to hide this somewhere the Connors won't see it." She mumbled.

-

**Author's Note**: Well, that's the end of the third chapter. This chapter was really hard to write with the flashbacks because I've only seen the episode twice, sort of. I've switched scenes around with the order as well. I had already started this chapter a few days before last night's episode, so it messed me up a little. I want to add my own stuff mixed with the show itself, so I try to hold on until I see new episodes.

I'm thinking about adding a brand new character into this story. The thought has been stuck in my head since I've first started writing this. But what do you readers think?

Please review! I love those.


	4. Chapter 4

Again, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. The wordy reviews were extremely helpful in different ways.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything but Kaylee whom will not be showing up in this story so much in the beginning (except for her debut chapter, this one), so hopefully, I can avoid thrown tomatoes and not be sued.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Sarah Connor and Derek Reese experienced an awkward Monday morning together as they sat at the kitchen table for breakfast in silence. The pair of them were somewhat enjoying a cup of coffee and avoiding each other's glances. Derek was not supposed to know the entire truth, but he did now and now it made things awkward.

Derek and John did not have these awkward moments. In fact, it ended up bringing the two of them closer. They ended up having more conversations together. Derek even helped John out with his homework to the best of his ability. They weren't the best of friends or family members, but it was better than the relationship between Derek and Cameron.

Derek continued to despise Cameron and Cameron was just indifferent. When Cameron was near, Derek would move away. It didn't matter where he was at the moment, he just wanted away from her. He wanted nothing to do with that metal _thing_ that was walking around the household. He wasn't able to understand why she was in the household and he surely did not believe that she was on _their_ side. There had to be something more than what the Terminator was telling the Connors.

Sarah put down her cup of coffee and focused her attention on Derek. There was no use just sitting there and staying quiet. "How are you feeling?"

Derek shrugged. "I've been better." He watched Cameron walk past the kitchen and into the living room where John was currently sitting. "How long has she been here?"

"Cameron?" Sarah glanced over at her. "A month or two, perhaps. Could be longer."

"And you trust her?"

She shook her head. "Not so much, but John seems to have taken a liking to her, sort of. Cameron's here to protect him. If I want my son alive, I'll just have to accept that there's at metal being in the house."

"So you're sure she's on your side?"

Sarah looked at him. "That's what I told you. A part of me thinks that Cameron has to be good if John is still around. But another part of me thinks that she's here for a while until John completely has her trust. Once she has it, she'll turn against him. I'm just not sure which side of me I should believe more."

Derek chuckled dryly. "So you'll just accept every decision that kid of yours makes?"

"I don't agree with everything, but it's his future we're dealing with, not mine." Sarah stood up and walked towards the coffee maker. "More coffee?"

He shook his head. "No thanks."

John Connor sat on the couch in the living room and channel surfed his way through boredom. He and Cameron would not be leaving for school for another thirty minutes. He thought it was useless for his mother to wake him up so early. It didn't take him so long to get ready. All he needed was a five minute shower, to brush to teeth, to find jeans and a shirt, and he was done. But if he knew if his mother wasn't able to wake him up, Cameron would.

Cameron would always tell him that getting up earlier was always more helpful. He would be more awake and more energized if he moved around more before school. Slacking off and being a couch potato was no option.

"What are you doing?" Cameron asked, sitting down beside of him.

John sighed and put the remote control down on the table in front of him. "I was trying to find something on TV. I assume you're going to give me a lecture on why it's important to not sit down so much before school?"

"If you continue to sit like that, you'll fall to sleep again." Cameron turned off the television and stood up, lending John a hand.

"You don't relax, do you?" he asked as he stood up, ignoring Cameron's help.

Cameron shook her head. "No. I don't relax."

John nodded. "Right, just don't tell people that."

"We'll walk to school." Cameron said as she walked into the kitchen. She ignored the sound of Derek's chair moving backwards.

"What? Are you insane?" John crossed his arms.

Cameron turned to him. "I thought you liked walking outside. That's what you said on Friday."

"Yes, but that was different. It was afternoon and warm during that time. Its morning and fifty degrees right now at this time."

"I read fresh air is supposed to be good for you." She took a sip of water.

Derek tapped his fingers on the table. "Why not have that Charley guy take you both to school? He and John are so close, I'm sure he wouldn't refuse."

"Even that's a good idea. Isn't it, Mom?" John turned to his mother and saw a sour look on her face.

Sarah shook her head. "I say no. If you take the bus, you'll be around more people and nobody would have the brains to expose themselves in public. If you two are by yourselves, it'll be easier for them to attack. If you're with Charley, they'll attack him and I don't want that to happen. I don't want Cameron to be around him either."

Cameron looked at Sarah, then John. "I swore."

"Why can't you take us? The jeep works fine and it's not far from where you work."

Sarah handed him a bag lunch. "I have things to do on the way to work. If I take you, you'll be late." She gave him a kiss on the head. "Good-bye."

"I hate being sixteen and not having a license." John muttered.

-

John was happy that chemistry was the first class of the day. It was his worst subject and he hated it. He was glad he could just get it out of the way. He hadn't realized until he sat down that Cheri was not in her usual seat, the one beside of him. Instead, it was another girl that he hadn't seen before. She was a petite girl, about the same height as Cameron if not just a little shorter. The girl's black coloured fringe was slightly hovering over her eyes and John couldn't see her face very well.

"You didn't threaten the other girl for this seat, did you?" John joked as he set his bag on the desk and sat down.

The girl looked at him with a surprised look on her face. "What? No. The girl who had this seat before offered this seat to me."

John looked at Cheri who looked away when their eyes met. "Huh. Okay then. I'm John."

She nodded. "Kaylee."

_Why would Cheri be avoiding me? What have I done? _John thought as he stared at the back of her head. _We've never had an actual conversation outside of class. I've only said hello for the most part. I never knew saying hello was such a bad thing. Things aren't becoming right with her._

"Did you two have a fight or something?"

John jumped a bit from surprise. "Huh? Oh, no. We actually don't talk much. We're mainly just, or were, chemistry partners."

"Huh. So staring really hard at the back of her head is just a study partner thing?"

"Well, no. It's just…never mind. Does this mean you're my partner now?"

Kaylee shrugged. "I don't know. If you want, I can talk to the teacher and tell her that you and your current partner should continue to work together. There's no need for me to interrupt things just because I'm new."

John chuckled. "Touchy."

"Thank you." Kaylee opened her chemistry book and turned to page sixty-eight as instructed, then turned back to him. "How great are you in chemistry?"

"Uh, not so good. Why?"

"I think we'll both be in the shit."

-

Waiting for chemistry class was an excruciating experience for John. Seeing Cameron run up to him just to be attached to him like some lunatic bodyguard was just as worse. The same thing happened every day and people would always notice. It bothered John, but he didn't show it.

"Who's your new friend?"

John opened his locker and threw his books inside. "Her name's Kaylee. And she's not my friend."

"But you two had a conversation." Cameron looked at him with the same robotic stare she always did.

"I have to trust someone in order for someone to be my friend. I don't have friends."

"Morris." Cameron continued to follow John around in the hall.

"What?"

"I thought Morris is your friend. You two talk a lot."

John shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. It's just that I feel bad that I keep letting him down when he wants to make plans with me. He's asked me to go places with him maybe twenty times and each time I say no. I even say no for you."

"Why would you say no for me? I can say no."

"You complicate things."

Cameron stopped walking. "Do I?"

John turned around. "Yes. You do. You still need to work on blending in with people a little more."

She started to walk again. "Don't be a freak."

"Exactly. You were fine when I first met you back in…you know, back then. Why can't you act like that same girl? You fooled me, remember?"

"My memory was scrubbed during the time travel."

"Ah, right." The warning bell began to ring. "I need to get to geometry. Don't scare people." He gave her a small smile and walked into the classroom.

-

Agent Greta Simpson walked into the same room James Ellison was standing in. James had been in the room for over an hour examining the left over arm from the T-888. He had been standing in the same position with the same facial expression for that amount of time and he hadn't moved since.

"James, how long are you going to stare at that thing? You'll turn into a statue by the end of the night." Simpson said, handing him a cup coffee.

James refused the cup. "I want to know what this is and who this belongs to."

"Well, staring at it probably won't narrow possibilities so quickly. Have you gone over what those victims said? The descriptions of the two women?"

He shook his head. "I haven't had the time. I've been too interested in this."

"Did you send it to the lab?" Simpson took a sip of her coffee.

James shook his head again. "I've been wanting to try to figure it out myself before I sent it to anyone else."

"Send it to the lab, Ellison. They're much more experienced with these things than you. They even use correct machinery and not just their eyes."

"I will eventually."

-

**Author's Note**: Yes, the new character is a girl, haha. I have my reasons. You'll see. Every guy needs a best guy friend and a best girl friend. I'm not so sure Cameron would count as that so much for right now. Kaylee won't show up as much for right now. And I've been watching Firefly this weekend. Okay, only one episode, but still.

If I make any spelling mistakes in any of my chapters, please let me know. I can re-read my stuff, but still miss errors. xD

I watched Thomas Dekker's episode of House last night and again this morning. It was strange watching him in the episode with his character.

And I've been thinking of creating a Thomas Dekker fansite, but I'm not entirely sure yet. I need a host first 'cause I'm taking up my current host's space with those two sites of mine she's hosting. C[:

Ah, review, please? I love these things. They make me happy and sometimes give me ideas on what to write depending on the review. Tomorrow's a new Terminator episode! Don't forget to watch it!


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